Yes, another casserole. But seriously, who doesn’t love a casserole? They are fairly easy, you can make ahead, put in your fridge and heat it up later. You can take them to pot lucks or have them at any event. Yes, it’s summer so you might not want to heat up the over, but this one is WORTH IT!!! It has a crunchy top and a cheesy inside. So much goodness. And if you follow TRIM HEALTHY MAMA you can eat it too!! It is definitely an S casserole with all the yummy cheese.
I started mine by roasting my chicken breasts. You can buy the chicken breasts that have the bone and skin on. They are cheaper but a little bit more work. If you don’t want the work that’s fine too just use boneless skinless. I like to use the in-bone chicken breasts with skin because the flavor is just amazing. The chicken has a wonderful wonderful moist texture as well. To roast just lay the chicken breasts on a baking sheet, sprinkle with olive oil, add herbs and spices (salt, pepper, and garlic granules are my favorite combination), bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the chicken reaches 160 degrees internal.
Doesn’t that just look good?
Start your spaghetti squash to cooking. There are several ways to cut the squash. You can cut it in half, place inside down on a cookie sheet with 1/2 cup water in the pan and bake, then scrape out the insides. Or you can place on a cookie sheet, poke several holes in it with a knife, bake at 350 to 400 degrees for an hour. Its easier to cut open this way and scrape out the insides. You can also peel it with a potato peeler which then makes it really easy to cut up), slice it, scrape out the insides and cut it up in chunks then roast it with olive oil or coconut oil. I have done it all three ways. Just pick the easiest for you. I bake mine at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to and hour. I also like to strain the excess water out of it so it does not make my recipes too watery.
In a big skillet I add the butter and onion. Cook that till almost tender. Shred the chicken breast up. Add the chicken to the skillet. Add spices and mix. Add the queso cheese (I used the white Queso Blanco HEB brand of Velveeta). **NOTE- If you would rather not add the queso cheese you can try mixing another type of cheese like Monterey Jack in the skillet with another 1/4 cup of butter & a 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream or even mozzarella cheese with 1/4 cup of butter & cream to the skillet. Mix till melted. Add a drained can of rotel to the skillet, mix. Next, add the spaghetti squash (use a fork the shred it up a bit) to the big skillet and mix up.
Next, add the skillet mixture to a big 9X13 baking dish. Add cheddar cheese to the top.
Toast up 2 Joseph Pita’s or if you don’t have that you can use a couple Low Carb Mission Tortillas or if you are more gluten free try 1/3 cup almond flour with 1/3 cup parm cheese to the top. Crunch up the pitas and mix with parm cheese. Add that to the top of the casserole.
Last, bake in the oven. No foil needed. If you want a really crunch top you can place it under the broiler (after baking) for 3 minutes.
Serve it up!
Three Cheese Chicken Casserole
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 9 1x
Description
A great cheesy gluten free chicken casserole! Great for an event or potluck or to feed a hungry family!
Ingredients
- 3 or 4 cooked chicken breasts
- 1 large spaghetti squash cooked
- 1/4 of a queso blanco cheese block (like velveeta, I use Queso Blanco Heb Cheese)
- 1/2 cup to 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup of parm cheese
- 1 can of drained Rotel
- 1/4 a cup of butter (half a stick of butter)
- 1/2 cup of chopped onion
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp of salt or to taste
- 2 Joseph pitas toasted (or you can use low carb tortillas toasted or even 1/2 a cup almond flour mixed with half a cup of parm. The almond flour won’t be as crunchy but it is gluten free.)
Instructions
- Cook the spaghetti squash and chicken breasts (shred the chicken).
- In a big skillet add the butter and onions.
- Cook till almost tender.
- Add the queso cheese, chicken, spices/salt & mix.
- Add the can of drained Rotel and spaghetti squash and mix.
- Put mixture into a 9X13 baking dish.
- Cover with the cheddar cheese.
- Toast the 2 Joseph pitas, crunch up, mix with the parm.
- Add the pita/parm mix to top of casserole.
- Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
- You can also broil on high for the last 2 to 3 minutes if you want a really crunchy top.
Notes
- **NOTE- If you would rather not add the queso cheese you can try mixing another type of cheese like Monterey Jack in the skillet with another 1/4 cup of butter & a 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream or even mozzarella cheese with 1/4 cup of butter & cream to the skillet.
- Enjoy this THM friendly casserole.
We love casserole dishes! Looking forward to making this tonight! Love your blog!
Oh thank you!! :)))
This looks so yummy! Was wondering if there was an alternative to the block cheese? Cream cheese…extra cheese?!
Yes!! I think cream cheese would work perfectly! There is a note at the bottom of the print recipe that shows you can replace the block cheese with different cheese and more butter and a touch of cream! 🙂
This looks yummy! Unfortunately my family won’t eat spaghetti squash.
Awh! I don’t know if you eat the dreamfield pasta but you could definitely try this over that and it would be wonderful! Or you could do some zucchini noodles and try that as well! It’s a great sauce base! Or even broccoli!
What is almost flour? I have never heard of it.
ahhhh oops that’s supposed to be “almond” thanks for telling me! I corrected it! 🙂
This looks amazing… I cannot wait to try it! It is going on this next pay period’s menu! 🙂 Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Hope you like it!! 🙂
Can you freeze this?
I have not tried it but I would say it should be ok. I read recently that spaghetti squash works well freezing. I would just say to try and drain all the water out of the squash. 🙂
DELICIOUS!!!
Yay! One of my favorites!!
Made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious! Hubby & children loved it.
Woohoo!!! 🙂
Want to try this but it’s a lot for one person. Do you have any single sized portion recipes I could use? Hubby not as eager to join in with this lifestyle change (yet)!
Hmm… I would cut the recipe in half and freeze what you don’t eat. That might help? This is really delish even your husband would like it, if you don’t say anything about it being “THM” haha. My husband LOVED it! 🙂
I thought this was about the best thing since THM skinny chocolate! My whole family loved it. We all pretty much eat THM style, because that’s what I cook. I will totally make this again. Thank you for this recipe!
Yay!!!!! SOooooo glad you liked it!!! 🙂
Made this last night and it was a hit. My family didn’t even know it was spaghetti squash until I told them after dinner ! I didn’t have rotel, so I used a can of diced tomatoes with seasoning.
I love this too!!! My husband’s favorite!!
What is “rotel”?
Oh it’s the Name Brand for Tomatoes & Green Chilis… I just grew up calling it that. 🙂
Can’t wait to try this! A casserole that is THM friendly – right up my alley!
Awesome! Hope you like it!!
What temperature and time do you recommend for toasting the pita on top?
400 degrees for like 5-7 minutes!
Do you know the carb count per serving?
I don’t but I will try to find out!
Commenting on my Favorite blog post: This is the best THM meal EVER!!!! I have recommended it it many people.
this is my favorite recipe!
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes Sarah. I’ve been discouraged lately and these help so much. You must be a fantastic cook! Is it possible for you to add if it’s an “E”, “S”, or “FP”? Mostly I think I’m guessing correctly but still afraid of guessing.
I should list what type it is in the actual blog… but I will try to remember to add it to the title too! Thank you! 🙂
We are going to try this meal tonight. It sounds delicious! I was wondering if you happened to know how much Chicken you used in measurements of pounds. I do not have breast on hand, I have boneless, skinless chicken tenders. Thank you for all of your fabulous recipes. Blessings.
I would say about 3 to 4 cups of chicken at least! 🙂
What size block of cheese do you take the 1/4 from? I believe they are sold in 8 oz, 16 oz and possibly even 32 oz. Thanks!!!
It’s the 16 0z one that I use!! 🙂
Thank you!
This just popped up on my facebook feed and I’m so glad it did. Can’t wait to try it and I do love that you use HEB products!!! My favorite grocery store.